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Mystery Project Redux


Gorath

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They've obviously gone to great lengths to update the project, including a project document cover including a sketch-up of downtown GR that doesn't include the JW and a picture of a power plant that was lifted (without any attempt at edits) right out of SimCity.

IMO there is an extremely low probably of any part of this proposed project becoming reality unless a whole contingent of really heavy hitters step up the plate (super deep pocket investors (i.e. billionaires), world-leading engineering and construction firms, etc.) so what other angle is Mr. Faust trying to play by bring something like this up?

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They've obviously gone to great lengths to update the project, including a project document cover including a sketch-up of downtown GR that doesn't include the JW and a picture of a power plant that was lifted (without any attempt at edits) right out of SimCity.

not to mention the spelling errors...

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Great minds think alike...I clicked on my UP bookmark intending to open this new thread with the same title that Gorath used.

Glancing through the PDF, I see several confidence-building features in the presentation. It's clear that the perps have a strong attention to detail and factual information.



  • The header graphic (atomic symbol) is overcropped
  • Sloppy syntax (word usage) and punctuation, consistency ("DeVos" on page 7, "Devos" on page 8)
  • Grievous errors on the local information (e.g. "East Grand Rapids Township," page 8)
  • the Rubicon "letterhead" lacks a full physical address (page 25)

There's more, sure to come up in the many future pages of this thread.

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Has anyone ever been to Mr. Faust's office? If he claims he can pull off a billion dollar project (at least! with a subway and everything) then he better have a mac daddy office.

Mr. Duane Faust

ESNA Corp. Realty

One Atlantic Center, 14th Floor

1201 West Peachtree St. NW

Atlanta, GA 30309-3488

Google Street View apparently doesn't like that stretch of road for me because it goes from Peachtree over the Amtrak rails to a few thousand addresses up Peachtree.

Every street in metro Hotlanta has the prefix "Peachtree" in its name. One called by only that word is clearly a fabrication.

***EDIT***

Also love this little gem:

"Faust could not be reached for comment. A telephone number found for his Atlanta office had been disconnected. The local engineering firm also could not be reached."

...

The location of ESNA Corp. Financial IS.... drum roll please....

http://i46.tinypic.com/iggazc.png

Planeteers, please put down/swallow your beverage before clicking on that tinypic Streetview image. Nice work, Temp Name!

Here's a thought: we have no deadlines here on the Planet. Let's assist the investigative reporters down at The Press and chase down these many leads.

EDIT: Here's the Rubicon address. It's a residential property and is listed for sale.

http://www.estately.com/listings/info/1234-sw-18th-ave--17

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Wow...that plan is painful to read. I'll add a few of my notes to the growing list we have:

As mentioned before, some of GR's more prominent structures are missing from the cover sketch. But did you notice the structure on the island by Wealthy Street? That's prime real estate. Also, not only is the tallest structure in the sketch 4-5 times taller than the Amway Grand, it also appears to be a syringe (if built, it will get my vote for ArtPrize).

The proposal is quite out of date. Structures under construction include: "Art museums and a Marriott."

The "River Grand Development Site Map" seems to neglect the existence of many fine institutions: Founders Brewing, The Intersection, Hopson Flats, GR Ballet, etc. It looks like Rapid Central Station was left untouched; good idea since you'll want to tie that in with the subway system. I admit, I may be reading the map wrong since it includes neither a legend nor a directional arrow.

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This is going to be a seriously cool project!

I'm not going to doubt for a moment that it will happen and will be successful.

People that are casting doubts are just people that want to hold Grand Rapids back and keep us a backwater.

The city should give any and all assistance to make this happen ASAP!

:rofl: Ok, seriously though, this would be more believable if he had managed to squeeze in a spaceport, and promised to have it built by androids with Hello Kitty heads.

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The current tenants of the 14th Floor at 1201 West Peachtree St. NW. are Bryan Cave, LLP, one of whose lawyers is president-elect of the Atlanta chapter of the Federal Bar Association (and a Hope / Michigan grad to boot). Do these people not think we have access to Google?

EDIT: By the by, I logged in specifically to make that monorail joke. Curses. :hi:

EDIT AGAIN: Please excuse my truncated French here, but the real beauty of the "WTFness," if you will, of this project is in the little details. So they draw a straight line through town, going to the airport. They figure they need to put a "station" or two every few blocks, so they pick ones on roads that look like arteries. One of these is the corner of Plymouth and Elliott. Speaking as someone who grew up three blocks from there, Really?

Also, East Paris @ Broadmoor?:wacko:

EDIT THREE: Dangit, what's up with coding lately? Links fixed.

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w00t.pngWhat, you guys don't think we need a subway down 44th street? I'm just sayin', they really thought through long and hard the right spots to put the stations on that mass transit route! So you're saying, we could one day take a subway to Hall St. down by Coit Park? I always go there, that's such a burgeoning area!! Or East Paris and Broadmoor? There's tons of stuff to do around there! I mean, I think there's an Arby's a couple hundred yards down the road. Imagine, we could be riding a train to eat there!!

wub.gifI'm sold. Mr. Faust, I'm sending you all my credit cards and the titles to my investments. Take all the money you need to make this happen right away.

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You haters. Your just stuck in the past. This project is happening. That is all.

I totally agree. It's clear that this time Faust has done the work required to get his big project fully built.... especially the the hydrogen-powered subway down 44th street. That'll get done even if the rest doesn't. ;)

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What I don't get is why Faust would spend the time putting this together. It's obviously so full of holes. What's the purpose?

I was wondering the same thing.

If you do a Google image search for "hydrogen plant," the Sim City screen shot used in the report is one of the first results.

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What I don't get is why Faust would spend the time putting this together. It's obviously so full of holes. What's the purpose?

Was thinking about that myself. My guess is the phrase "shovel-ready."

Last week I was in New Orleans on a Katrina rebuild trip, where I met a cousin. Her hubby is in real estate. He described the evacuation process: before they'd event left their house, the looters came through. And he characterized as "looters" the rogue contractors, scammers who said they'd help folks file claims, vendors of shoddy materials, and the like.

I'm thinking that Faust, and his financial wizard friend in the condo for sale, and the non-existent office next to the coffee shop, are chasing Obama bucks. Drop a quickie proposal here and there, maybe someone will bite.

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I was wondering the same thing.

If you do a Google image search for "hydrogen plant," the Sim City screen shot used in the report is one of the first results.

That's funny! When I tried it, that image was alongside photos of actual plants, like in Brisbane, New Mexico, etc. Why didn't they just yank one of those pictures? It would at least show us an example of what the plant could eventually look like, rather than show us they have no concept or design for this supposedly "shovel-ready" project.

Come on, if you're going to give us smoke and mirrors, at least put some effort into it.whistling.gif

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